Tangled Webs
by ghostwriter1341
Summary: A strange woman floats down the river, injured and on the verge of death. Strange people always seem to be attracted to the Kenshin group. Her history is dark, tangled and twisted. She's running from someone, but she won't tell. They just know that he's dangerous and if he finds her, she's good as dead.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

"_In return for your information you've provided for us, we will help you escape..."_

That man either lied or his men weren't as strong as he claimed them to be.

Her bare feet pounded against the wet grass. Dew had barely settled on the ground. The grass scratched her feet. Her footprints would be easy for her pursuers to follow. She could hear them, following closely behind. But she could not slow down. She couldn't afford being captured again. A fate worse than death awaited her back there.

Hinata didn't dare look back. She didn't want to see how close they were. If she saw even one of their lanterns glowing in the early morning darkness, she would lose hope and if she lost that, this escape would mean nothing. The lives of those officers and all of the planning would be in vain. There was no other option to escape or die trying. Hinata had to run into the woods and hide herself in the shelter of the trees.

Her clothes were rent on the enclosing branches. The harsh branches became _his_ servants, snatching at her, inhibiting free movement. Hinata struggled, glancing over her shoulder for bare a second. She spun her head just back around. She barely saw the glowing lanterns approaching. Heavy footsteps echoed behind her, but they only urged her on further. Hinata flung her arms about. She broke as many branches as she could.

An orchestra formed around her. Footsteps were the drums, the breaking twigs became the strings, and her racing heartbeat kept everything in time. Hinata fought harder against the black forest. She was bleeding nearly on every part of her body. From her shoulders to the soles of her feet, Hinata felt her blood gathering on the surface of her skin. It stuck to her skin like paste. Each wound stung as the wind blowing against her in the mad dash. No shoes, no weapons, no allies. She was alone in this world; it had been that way for a very long time. If only the police officers hadn't gotten themselves killed, perhaps Hinata might not have been in this situation. The men chasing after her seemed to be falling back, not retreating, but they failed to keep up with her. Speed was one of the many gifts the gods seemed to have given her.

The sound of rushing waters grew louder as the men behind her grew further and further away. Hinata couldn't help but smile a little. A few more feet and she would find the little boat that man promised her. A little further and she'd be free.

The rushing water was a beacon to nirvana for her. Its sound and the smell brought her fresh hope. Just a little further. A little further.

The woods to her left began to clear. In between the dark trees, Hinata could see the raging river. The river's cool, silver waters glowed in the moonlight. Trees became fewer and far between. Land melted away, giving room to the river. Up ahead, Hinata could see a little boat tethered tightly to a wooden peg. She ran with all of her speed. Her escape was nearly complete. This was the first time she rested. Hinata wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck with her sleeves. She waited to catch her breath.

The little boat bobbed in the river. It was empty, save the oar. Even if it was just her now, Hinata could paddle a boat by herself. She walked over instead of running. Getting a quick look of her surroundings and making sure she wasn't followed, Hinata drew near to the boat. She had nothing to cut the rope with. The best she could do was to untie it.

A sudden gust of wind blew past her, but it didn't feel like an ordinary wind. In fact, it didn't feel like the wind at all. It felt like something entirely unnatural. Whatever this thing was, was much faster than wind. And like that, Hinata's chance at escape was nearly dashed against the rocks lining the river bed. A pair of familiar steel-colored eyes, cold, soulless, steel-colored eyes of a young man. His soulless smile didn't make Hinata drop her guard.

"Soujiro." Hinata fought back the urge to vomit. Sour bile rose in her throat. This sort of thing happened whenever she was in his presence. There was something twisted about him and the very sight of him sent cold chills all over her body. Soujiro's presence sent those same chills down her spine. Of course, he had been the one to catch up with her. His speed matched hers almost perfectly.

His hand went for the sword on his belt. He saw Hinata's eyes flash towards it. It wasn't so much as death she feared. Soujiro didn't have to kill her. She doubted that he would use it to end her life. What she was afraid of was that he'd use the sword to create grievous wounds, just add on to what she had suffered, and then take her unconscious body back to _him_, where a punishment would be waiting for her, after she recovered her strength.

"Lady Hinata, I'd rather not harm you any further than what you've already done to yourself. If you would just come with me without a fight, I'm sure Master Shishio would be merciful. But then again, you did betray him and tried to escape. Perhaps I can put in a good word for you if you'll come along quietly?"

Hinata glared him. Their eyes meeting; Soujiro's cold, emotionless ones and Hinata's defiant. There were two ways out of here: death or capture. She touched the leather pouch hanging from her neck. She had been saving the contents in the pouch for a very special reason.

"You know that those won't work. Your threads. Those rings of yours that store those steel threads you love to use to much. All of the threads have already been removed. You have no choice. You won't jump in the river because you're too weak to commit suicide, in case you've forgotten the last few times."

Hinata wasn't sure to be more shocked about, that Shishio had been so careful to remove the main component to her weapon of choice or that Soujiro felt the need to bring up her failed suicide attempts. She stepped back a little, lowering her hand to her side. Her eyes darted for the wooden peg standing beside the last thing standing between her and freedom. Soujiro must have noticed where her eyes had wandered. His sword was unsheathed in the bleak of an eye. The rope was cut by the time Hinata had realized had happened. Her heart broke at the sound of the rope snapping. The boat slowly began drifting away, taking her freedom with it.

Soujiro smiled again, and extended his hand towards her.

"Now you have no choice, not that it would have done you any good," his voice sounded sour for a moment. "I still could have stopped you if you tried to come any closer. I'll ask you once more, Lady Hinata, to come with me quietly. I won't ask a fourth time."

Hinata stared at the boat drifting further away down river. There were two out of here: death or capture. Those were her options. But if she played her cards right, there might be a third one. It was a gamble. However, if she leave now, there would be no other way to escape but through death.

"No! No," Hinata shook her head madly. "I will never go back to him. I'd rather be dead."

Hinata edged towards the river bed.

"Please, Lady Hinata, let's be reasonable here. You and I both know you're incapable of killing yourself. Take my hand and I will ensure that Master Shishio will show you some mercy."

Hinata's eyes darkened. She backed up even closer to the river. The boat was moving faster. Soon it would be too late.

"I like to gamble, you know that Soujiro. So let me give you some advice and don't bet that I won't jump in," Hinata enjoyed the look on his face when she took the plunge, falling back first into the water. Granted Soujiro was incapable of feeling emotion, he could still portray a face of disbelief.

Hinata's world became murky. The aquatic plants lying beneath the surface of the river brushed past her like the forest's branches. Pretty soon, she wasn't even able to see Soujiro chasing after her. She swam with the current until a dark shadow in the shape of an oval appeared some feet ahead of her. Her arms and legs didn't have that much power left. Strength was draining from her. Her wounds couldn't be treated. The water may have washed them a little bit, but each wound stung like she was being pricked by a thousand needles. Hinata reached up, barely grasping the boat with the touch of her fingers.

She flipped the boat over, gasping for air in the hollow end of the boat. Her arms clung to the blanks built in. Hinata realized that she would have to stay like this for a while. Sooner or later Soujiro would give up. The boy was fast, but there was no way he had the time and energy to chase either her or the boat all night long. Like a puppy, he'd have to return to his master's side. That's even if he guessed what had happened. Unless he could see her under the surface water, for all he knew she probably sunk to the bottom. The current slowed down a little. Hinata loosened her grip just slightly. She nearly laughed with tears of joy mixing with the river water dripping down her face.

She'd finally did it.

* * *

Meanwhile

Soujiro found his master reclining on the couch in his 'throne room,' if you will. He seemed impatient. Of course, when you find out that someone turned in information about you to the police and escaped with them, impatience was not only understandable, it was expected.

Bowed deeply to the floor.

"I beg your pardon, Lord Shishio, but I have some bad news."

There was silence.

"I am sad to report that Lady Hinata is no longer with us."

"I hope you're not about to tell me she managed to escape." He rasped.

Soujiro rose up a little. "You misunderstand, sir. What I meant to say was that she is dead. Jumped into the river and drowned, I'm afraid. It seems that she had the strength to kill herself after all. It is a shame though. She had a lot of talent."

"Yes," Shishio sighed as if he had lost something trivial. "Did you know where her body is?"

"At the bottom of the river, for now. Shall I have some men look for it later in the morning?"

Shishio shook his head. "Don't bother. By then it'll be half way to the ocean. Let the seas be her final resting place. Besides, I don't want to waste any more resources just to look for her corpse. You're dismissed."

Soujiro bowed again. He retreated quietly. Shishio waited until he was gone before rising himself and walking towards the chamber adjoined to that one.

A windowless chamber filled with the tools of Hinata's craft. There was no one in the world who could have competed with her weaving. It ran in the family. The chamber was lit with several gas lamps. The flames of each individual lamp tossed shadows against the interior. It was wall to wall fabrics and every tool one could use to weave and sew. The most prominent feature was her loom, with the back of a silk kimono left unfinished. He should have known better. Shishio should have realized earlier when he saw the project hanging in the loom half done. Hinata Takei never left anything undone, that was her personal motto. She finished her projects. She would have never left something that to hang incomplete on her loom.

His sword came down upon the defenseless object, it's wooden limbs cracking like old bones. Threads broke easily underneath the blade of his sword. The metal features were the only things left unharmed for obvious reasons. The remains of the unfinished back of a kimono was torn to shreds.

Shishio felt no love, no affection, however he could feel rage boiling up inside of him. Perhaps he had spent too long obsessing over Hinata that he lost sight of what was happening before his eyes. She slowly dissolved from the woman he knew ten years ago to the one who lay at the bottom of the river.

"You stupid woman," he hissed darkly as he turned off the lamps and slammed shut the chamber door for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

Staring up into the sky, towards the blazing sun, Hinata began to believe that she was knocking at Death's door already. So much time had passed since she had left Shishio's compound, that she had lost track of time altogether. She couldn't tell whether two days had passed or if had been two weeks. By the sounds of her grumbling stomach, Hinata guessed that it had been only a few days, no more than a week, but more than likely less. The only way she managed to survive was bending over the tiny boat and taking long sips out of the river. Today, with its hot, humid air and her lack of strength, she couldn't even sit up. Her arm lazily sat on her forehead, shielding it and her eyes partially from the sun's torturous rays.

It would take at least three more days before she died of thirst. More than likely she would perish in the heat long before that. Hinata began to wander what would happen then. Would someone fish her little boat out of the river and give her a proper burial? And if so, would she be able to see her family again, in the land of the dead?

Shaking her head, with salty tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes, Hinata could not believe that there was any hope of seeing them in the next life. She had yet to make a amends for the crimes she had committed in this life. How could the gods give her peace in the afterlife? There had been so much time wasted. She had felt sorry for herself for too long. This was how it was all going to end. She was to die slowly and painfully by the end of the coming weak.

Hinata laid in the boat, thinking about the things that she had left undone, the people she couldn't help, the people she hurt, and above all, the looming hand of death that was edging closer and closer.

She supposed that she could find a river bank and plead for help from a passerby. But Hinata had little to no strength left in her. Heat, hunger, and illness had sapped whatever she might have been saving up for the night of her grand escape.

Out of purgatory and into hell...was it really worth it? To escape _his_ clutches only to die before long?

Green riverbanks passed before her eyes. The river had taken her past forests, fields, and rice paddies. However, these slopping green riverbanks, fresh with wild grass, reminded her of the riverbank she saw as a child in Kyoto. Was she seeing her life pass before her eyes? Was she closer to death than she thought?

The nagging cough she had developed two nights before and the tightness in her chest pointed towards a 'yes.'

Hinata, for the past two days and two nights, thought that she could ignore the growing illness. Her chest was tight she could deal with. Then came the coughing and the chills. Try as she might, with nothing but a makeshift blanket made out of the reeds she plucked from riverbeds did little good. It was a miracle she was still alive. Thinking about it now, Hinata mentally and spiritually prepared herself for the worst. The hum of the cicadas in the heat of the day lulled her into sleep. She was so tired. So tired that she had not realized that the boat became a drift and landed softly on the riverbank.

Just as she was closing her eyes, Hinata could barely make out this shape, color and black in color. The footsteps had come so quietly that she hadn't noticed them. She half-smiled, thinking that this person before her was a shinigami come to collect her soul. There was no use in begging for her life. What was done and what was left undone would be judged in the next life.

Perhaps she would get lucky and be reincarnated.

A sweet darkness washed over her and she fell unconscious.

* * *

Sitting near the top of the riverbank, Sanosuke was busy minding his own business, chewing on a reed he picked up from the grass beside him. He sat there and watched the river go by at its normal, slow pace. He began to wonder if anything exciting would happen soon. There had been little action for the longest time and the fighter in him needed something to stave off his boredom. Recently, he started picking fights just to find some entertainment. Alas, the street thugs couldn't provide the much-needed action. If only there was so big villain waiting to raise his ugly head, somebody that he had to fight waiting just around the river bend.

He sighed, thinking that perhaps he should be thankful for all of the peace and rest he could get. The next bad guy could just prove to be more than he could actually handle.

Still, he felt this raw, anxious feeling running throughout his body. Sanosuke could feel it deep down in his bones, there was going to be something coming his way. Since he woke up that morning, he felt this nagging feeling in the bottom of his stomach, and it wasn't hunger. No, it was something stronger. Much more stronger. Besides, he had already eaten three rice bowls and half a late full of dumplings. Nobody could be hungry after that.

No matter how late in the afternoon it got or what he did, there was no way shake this eerie feeling grinding against his brain. He tried to think, but there was no way around it.

Sighing again, Sanosuke rose to his feet and was about to head towards Kaoru's dojo, when a boat in the river caught his eye.

There was nothing strange about a boat in the river. That was what rivers were made for. But this boat had an unusual passenger, who was either half-asleep or half-dead, from the looks of it. This passenger didn't seem alright. Even from a distance he could see that her body was well emaciated from hunger. The poor girl looked like she hadn't eaten in days. He tried to get a better look at her face, but it was half hidden beneath her arm and kimono sleeve. The woman made very little movement. She wasn't even started when her boat landed almost noiselessly on the riverbank.

Sanosuke, who couldn't just stand by and let this woman die by the wayside, skidded down the slope towards the boat. When he found her, she had moved her arm. Her skin looked so sickly and burnt from too much sun-exposure. He could hear her whizzing. She was hungry and sick to boot. There was no one he'd leave her there like that.

As he reached down to pick her up, Sanosuke thought he saw her lips stretch into a small smile. He thought he imagined it because how could a pretty woman like her smile at a guy like him.

The woman's clothes were dirty, stuck to her skin, and the bottom hem of her kimono was torn. Her feet were badly bruised and the fabric from her kimono had been used to crudely bandage them. Beneath her short kimono, she had on loose fitting pants.

Hoisting her up effortlessly, since her body was light, Sanosuke carried her on his back all the way to Megumi's.

* * *

When the doctor spotted the man she dubbed frequently the 'idiot' sprinting through the door with a woman on his back, Megumi honestly thought the worst.

"What did you do this time!" She helped him bring the unconscious woman inside.

"I didn't do anything! I was sitting there minding my own business..."

"Right..." Megumi looked at him suspiciously. "Just put her on one of the beds. I'll go get some supplies."

She disappeared around the corner. Sanosuke laid the mysterious woman out on the nearest futon very carefully. The smile he thought he saw on her had vanished. She looked to be sleeping for the moment, probably the best sleep she had in the longest time.

"You can leave now."

Sanosuke blinked.

He turned on his heels to find Megumi carrying all sorts of medical equipment in her arms. Sanosuke looked over his shoulder at the woman he had just placed on the bed.

"If you're that concerned for her, I'll tell you about her condition later today." Megumi sighed. "_After _I'm done taking care of her."

"I'll be over at Kaoru's." He waved good-bye as he made his way through the main gate. He looked one last time only to find Megumi shutting the shoji door, shielding the entire room from his view.


	3. Chapter 3

It was already very late in the afternoon, close to supper time by the looks of it, by the time Megumi had finished treating the patient Sanosuke left to her. The cicadas were humming loudly, nearly drowning out her own thoughts. Personally, she was glad that they were so loud today. It almost made her forget the horrors that she had finished seeing. With a solemn heart, she left the sleeping woman in Gensai's care while she went to speak with Sanosuke, and possibly Kenshin. This woman needed protection and as much as Megumi doubted Sanosuke's skills as protector, this new woman would want to have all the extra muscle she could get.

She passed through the dojo's entrance, finding the whole gang sitting outside.

Kaoru stood up and her eyes immediately darted for the doctor's face, which was bandaged up.

"Miss Megumi, what happened to your face?" The girl asked in a worried tone.

Megumi touched her cheek...

_Sanosuke had finally left. The door was shut and she hoped that no one would come knocking or calling for her. Just by looking at her, Megumi guessed that the woman had been wandering around for days, with no shelter to protect herself from the cold of the night and the heat by day. Her skin was badly sunburned and she was emaciated from hunger. She could see the woman's ribs. Thankfully, she hadn't been out in the wilderness for very long. There was still hope in rescuing her._

_Megumi removed the makeshift bandages from the woman's feet. The scrap fabric was so sticky with sweat and grime that it clung to the soles of her feet. Megumi unwound the strips of fabric. She gasped when she saw the dark bruises and cuts that were on the verge of infection. If the doctor didn't act quickly, a deadly infection could spread throughout the woman's body._

_She went to work cleaning the wounds properly with medicine and disinfectant. The feet were wrapped in proper bandages this time and the strips tossed to the other side of the room to be thrown out later with the garbage._

_Now it was a matter of treating her illness. Megumi noted the heavy whizzing and short bursts of coughing that didn't seem to interrupt her sleep. Still, hearing it wasn't enough. She needed to hear what was going on inside her chest._

_The kimono was shifted away from her shoulders, just until her chest was half exposed. Megumi pressed an ear over her heart and lungs. Sighing with relief, she mentally wrote a prescription for a cold medicine for her new patient._

_Just as she started to move away, Megumi heard a low groaning. It could have only come from the patient._

_Dark reddish-brown eyes shot open, panicky and terrified. Megumi didn't even get a chance to explain before a clawed hand scratched at her face. She jumped back right away, escaping any further injury. The woman had suddenly sat up in bed, half-dead and scared out of her wits._

"_W-who are you? Why am I not dead?" Her voice shook. Her eyes darted this way and that._

_Megumi raised her hands in a 'calm down' gesture._

"_My name is Megumi and I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you."_

_The woman froze for a minute. Letting the information sink in. She appeared to have trouble breathing, and she still looked rather scared._

"_I'm alive?" She wondered out loud._

"_Yes, very much alive." Megumi answered._

"A new patient came in today. Sanosuke found her and dumped her on me. I was listening to her heart beat and lungs when she snapped and scratched me." Megumi answered.

Kaoru clasped her hand over her mouth. "Why would she do such a thing if you were trying to help her?"

Megumi waited a minute or two before answering further. "Is there some place private we can talk? This isn't a conversation for children to listen in on."

"Anything you can say in front of _Kaoru,_ you can say in front of me." Yahiko blurted out with an air of pride.

"No," Megumi said sternly. They sort of stared at her for a moment. She had never used that kind of tone before. "This is too much for you to deal with."

Megumi turned her gaze to Kenshin. "You need to hear it though, Mr. Kenshin. You too, Sanosuke." She eyed the second man from behind her shoulder.

Kaoru led them to a small room and shut the door behind them. They sat around a small table, waiting for Megumi to explain what was going on and what was so important that Yahiko couldn't hear it.

"Sanosuke, do you know anything about this woman?"

He shook his head. "Not a thing. It's not like she said a word to me before she passed out."

"And where did you find her?"

Sanosuke scratched his head. "By the side of the river. She came along in this little boat. All she had with her was this mat she must have made out of reeds. I didn't find anything else that belonged to her."

"I see..." Megumi seemed to wander off for a second.

"Do you know who this woman is, Miss Megumi?" Asked Kenshin.

"No, but what I can tell you about her is that she just escaped some sort of hell on earth." Megumi's face became distorted with great sorrow.

"What makes you say that?" Kaoru asked the next question.

Megumi took a deep breath before answering. "When she fell back asleep, I found wounds that were far older than the ones on her feet."

"She was bare foot?" Kaoru interrupted.

"Yes." Megumi answered, agitated. "She had several cuts on her feet. She must have been in a hurry to run away to not put on even a pair of sandals. But like I was saying, she had several wounds, scars from torture and _self-harm._"

The room fell silent.

"I found scars on her arms and inner thighs. She had been cutting herself between being burned and beaten. And there was evidence that she had been repeatedly...raped over a long period of time. Whoever she was running from, might come looking for her."

She turned to Kaoru and Kenshin, who were sitting side by side. No surprise there.

"I know that this is asking a lot but..."

"You don't even have to ask. I'd be more than happy to take her in. It wouldn't be safe for her to stay at your place with so many patients coming in and out all the time." Kaoru accepted Megumi's request without her finishing her sentence.

"Did she give you a name?" Asked Kenshin.

Megumi shook her head. "All she asked me was who I was and if she was really alive. She seemed to be surprised by the fact that she was. Then she passed out again."

The room went silent again.

"Why do you think she was surprised that she was alive?" Asked Kenshin.

"Because she was expecting death." Sanosuke answered solemnly.

For once, eyes were focused on Sanosuke as if he had said something truly insightful.

"She smiled," he continued, "because she thought she was dying. At first I didn't understand why, but now that I've heard about what she went through, it was no wonder she was hoping for death. You don't make that face if you're on the verge of dying unless you've through hell like that."

He slammed his fist into the floorboard. His knuckles cracked against the hard wood.

"Any kind of man who does that to a woman is sick! If I find the bastard, I'm gonna give him more than just a piece of my mind." Sanosuke didn't normally feel so heroic, but knowing what this poor woman went through, even though she was a complete stranger, made his blood boil.

"Calm down, Sanosuke. We don't even know her name, let alone the man who did those things to her." Kaoru tried to quiet him down. Then turning to Megumi, "How long will it take for her to heal?"

The doctor sighed. "For physical recover, with the lacerations on her feet and the cold she caught while being out on that river for who knows how long, I'd give her three to four weeks. For psychological recovery, I have no idea. At the moment, we don't know how long she suffered. It could have been several weeks, months, years, she underwent that torture. Maybe even her entire life perhaps? It's not the physical scars I'm so concerned for, it's the invisible ones, the ones on her soul, which worries me the most."


End file.
